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John Jordan of Raptors 905 wins D-League Dunk Contest

The D-League Dunk Contest didn't disappoint. It never disappoints.

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Your author wasn’t the only one throwing down at old Exhibition Grounds on Saturday. Shortly after the best 8-foot net windmill you’ll ever see from a writer in a plaid button-up over at NBA Centre Court at Enercare Centre, the D-League held their own All-Star affair.

After Andre Ingram won his second career D-League 3-Point Shootout, the D-League All-Star Game got underway. The East took a 64-56 lead into half, thanks in part to _ points from Jimmer Fredette, the 3-Point Shootout runner up. More important than the score was simply the fact that halftime arrived, as halftime marked the annual D-League Dunk Contest, an event that rivals its NBA counterpart most years.

The 2016 field was quite stacked, with hometown 5-foot-10 rim-kissing John Jordan hosting defending champion Jarvis Threatt, UNC standout J.P. Tokoto, transition Vine-machine D.J. Stephens, 45-inch vertical owner Keifer Sykes, and former NCAA dunk contest standout Walter Lemon Jr.

The lineup didn’t disappoint. There were a few more missed dunks than you’d like to see, but that’s a necessity of progress, and the D-Leaguers came out with some really creative attempts. D.J. Stephens, for example, tried to go beneath both legs at once, floating in the air like he was a chair, but couldn’t quite pull it off. He also tried to catch a Quinn Cook layup and put it between his legs. Dude is innovative, but innovation comes with a price, and 5-foot-10 John Jordan used his approximate 50-inch vertical to make some impossible dunks look possible.

Round One
John Jordan, 5’10”, Raptors – Self-alley-oop pump reverse (50), self-alley-oop two-handed windmill (50)

Keifer Sykes, 5’11”, Austin – Self-alley-oop 360 two-handed pump (third try, 47), several missed dunks (37)


Jarvis Threatt, 6’2″, RGV – Self-alley-oop two-handed 360 (50), several missed dunks (32)
Walter Lemon Jr., 6’3″, Fort Wayne – Self-alley-oop windmill (42), several missed dunks (33)
D.J. Stephens, 6’5″, Canton – Standing still between-the-legs (50), self-alley-oop one-handed hammer (47)


J.P. Tokoto, 6’6″, OKC – 360 windmill (48), 360 between-the-legs reverse (third try, 41)

Finals

John Jordan – Cook off-glass windmill reverse (50), 360 two-hander with head at him (40)



D.J. Stephens – Cook bounce pass two-handed alley-oop (37), behind-the-back (100th try, 49)

There was some funky judging from a contest winner, Jordan Clarkson, Patrick Patterson,and Tim Frazier, but the right dunker won in the end, with Jordan owning two of the best three dunks of the night (Stephens’ stand-still between-the-legs gets my vote as the top jam).

Jordan joins Threatt, Dar Tucker (2), Tony Mitchell (2), James “Flight” White, L.D. Williams, and “Air Georgia” Brent Petway as D-League Dunk Contest winners. He’s probably also earned himself some fans in Mississauga, where the 905 faithful are yet to get to know him because he’s only played two games with the club since being acquired.

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